Coconut Dutch Baby inspired by Joy the Baker

Sundays with Joy is a group celebrating the cookbook by Joy the Baker by choosing a recipe to feature each week. I joined this group just recently, ordered Joy’s book, and proceeded to read it cover to cover in one sitting.
Not only are the recipes original and the pictures breathtaking, but the writing is genius. It’s real and it’s funny and I loved it. I love you, Joy.
The recipe chosen this week was the Toasted Coconut Dutch Baby with Banana and Pineapple. A Dutch baby is like a cross between a giant pancake and a popover, and I’ve never made one before, but it sounded just as close to heaven as you can get within the confines of a breakfast food. I happened to not have (or like, really) pineapple, which was called for in the original recipe, so I omitted it and used only banana. I used threw some pecans on top of the Dutch baby because I do love pecans.

The most interesting part of making this was toasting the coconut. I’ve never toasted coconut, and it burns quite easily, so I was quite afraid of ruining it. But it turned out great anyway.

I placed the coconut on a baking sheet with tinfoil (because I am perpetually out of parchment paper) and toasted it for four minutes, mixing it halfway to prevent burning.

The cast iron skillet was also new. I’ve never used one, nor did I know what one looked like. I figured it out, don’t worry! I did burn two of my fingers, though, poor things.

Into the oven my Dutch baby went. While it was baking, I sliced a banana to arrange on top. The pancake is supposed to be puffy and slightly brown in the middle, but mine was flatter when I took it out. It was delicious all the same.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread coconut and pecans over the baking sheet and toast in the oven about 4 minutes. Remove halfway to mix slightly and prevent burning. Remove and place a cast iron skillet in the oven.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon and salt with half of the coconut and pecans.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until “thick and pale.” Whisk in the milk. I whisked for a few minutes, just to be sure. (My arms almost fell off)

Add the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. It will be thin.

Take the skillet out from the oven (to all who don’t know, the handle will be hot!!!) and swirl in canola oil so that it covers the whole bottom of the pan.

Pour the batter into the pan (over the oil) and immediately bake for 15-18 minutes, or until puffed and slightly browned in the center.

Meanwhile, slice your banana. I sliced mine very thin, but the size of the chunks depends on preference.

When the pancake is ready, remove from oven and immediately top with banana and the rest of the coconut and pecans. Serve immediately, preferably with maple syrup.

Conclusions: Although I did burn my finger and thumb on the handle of the skillet (silly Dru), I loved making this Dutch baby. As I mentioned before, Joy is a genius and just owning her cookbook is an honor. The pancake does sink quite quickly, though, and is best served warm, but the leftovers are just as tasty. First recipe for Sundays with Joy: Successful.